The Tower
by gigglegirl88
Summary: A young girl wakes up in Las Noches with no memory of how she got there. The Espada find her, deciding that they should to kill her so she can't expose them and any secrets the possible 'spy' may have obtained. She, however, has a LOT to say about that. Finally Grimmjow, intrigued by this odd woman, takes her in...
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

A small girl walked alone through the halls of Las Noches. She wasn't really all that young…she was 14 years old. But even for a teenager, she was a stunning beauty. Her hair fluttered like butterfly wings around her face as she walked. It was still the same deep, rich auburn, a fiery red that was just below her shoulders, perfectly straight, with a little indent that neatly cupped her face. Her skin was a creamy white, the normal redhead pale that they'd reluctantly come to live with. Her eyes were still a dark, startling blue. Technically they were several different shades of blue mixed, but without looking up close they just appeared dark blue. They were bold and fiery, like her spirit, filled with confidence and daring. It was a shade of blue everyone wanted to have, that no one believed existed in the eye color. But she had it. Her face was still heart shaped with a tiny nose and rosy pink cheeks. Her eyebrows were a blonde/orange color, hard to see. They arched in a elegant way on her brow, giving her a very dignified look. The only thing that made her look any different than usual was that her full lips didn't have that hint of a smile in them. They were trembling.

The pretty young woman kept walking, a little on the small side, although with her personality, you'd never notice. Her hand folding over where her heart would be, and she narrowed her eyes with pain. She was leaving. And these goodbyes were tearing her apart.

_While I'm here, I should go see Grimmjow-san._ Thinking about her dearest Grimm-Grimm made her want to scream, but she didn't. Straightening up she walked towards Las Noches to see him. Her heart hammered in her chest, and her eyes were moist already. She thought her heart would explode from the pain.

And then she saw him. For a moment she couldn't bring herself to speak to him. Then she ran up to him and slammed him on the back with her hand, hard. She had to. It was their thing. "Hiya, Grimm-Grimm!" She said brightly. Tears clung to her eyelashes as she put on a happy act.

Grimmjow Jaggerjack turned to look at her, a disturbed look on his face that made her want to let out a bark of laughter. It was so…so _him_. Such a familiar expression on his face made her happy. His blue hair and blue eyes…Espada number 6. My Grimmjow. She stepped back with her arms clasped behind her back in a very feminine way and looked him over, thoughtful. She'd vowed that she would be there for him so he wouldn't have to be alone anymore. No matter what. Now she was leaving. Without telling him. Betrayal. The girl felt the traitorous tears leaking down her face. No. Grimmjow! NO!

He had become a better person. A softer, kinder person. He still loved fighting, of course. And leaning against that wall of his. Her fingers fluttered up to her face, and touched her lips. She pressed them there and cried quietly. Grimmjow.

Grimmjow looked at her. "Hey. No cryin'. Stop it. C'mon, yar are a good, brave girl. Stop blubberin'. Jeez, and at think you keep tryin' at protect _me_, when it shoul' be the othe' way around." He crossed his arms stubbornly, and she giggled slightly despite her tears. It was so him. _Just_ like him. He'd be one of the people she'd miss the most. Wiping away her tears, she reached out and touched his cheek, tracing it down to his chin. She smiled at him gently.

"Hey, Grimm-Grimm. I think…well, I don't know how often I'll be seeing you now. So I…." She looked down, her sweet, innocent face crumpling under the pressure and she balled up her tiny hands with pain. It was like a hand squeezing her heart. This pain…how do I survive? "I came to see you. So…."

His blue eyes narrowed. He looked her over, her strange blue eyes, her long auburn hair that defined her so, the arch of her eyebrows, her creamy white skin, her pearly white teeth, her heart shaped face. Grimmjow had long ago decided that although she looked weak and frail, she was strong. Everyone knew it. Grimmjow looked over her fragile, delicate figure and suddenly knew he wouldn't see her ever again. Not in the way she was, anyways. Her lips trembled. Eyes filling with those shimmering tears again, she looked at the ground, then back up to Grimmjow. He wanted to remember her happy, not crying, not like this.

And then she threw herself at him, hugging him tightly around the middle.

Yes, a little 14 year old who was a little short for age, someone Grimmjow could easily crush like a bug, had hugged him. She'd done it only once before, when she'd been worried _sick_ about him. He'd smiled and said he was ok. And then listened to her blubber and lecture him about running off when in pain. Now it was she. But he couldn't help her.

"You're one of my best friends. You might think you don't need friends, but everyone does, so there. I don't think that was a very good argument I just made but whatever." The tiny speck of a girl murmured into his chest. Then she looked up at him and smiled weakly. If I ever see this guy again I'm going to hug him.

Grimmjow didn't try to escape. She thought that he knew she needed this. He just patted her uncomfortably on the head and then put a hand under her chin and lifted it. Her pale face was warm and damp. But this was still the girl he knew and he couldn't stand to watch her cry.

"Hey…."

"Grimmjow. Grimm-Grimm. Goodb…goodbuh…mmmmph!" She let out a choked sob and shuddered violently. He was worried she'd fall over. Crumble entirely. Her resolve was shattering.

He put his lips by her ear. "You should go." Grimmjow muttered gruffly, feeling awkward. She laughed grimly, but nodded. "Yeah." With that she left.

For a few minutes, he just watched the beautiful young girl leave. Btu she didn't have her usual skip to her step. Or the cocky attitude. Or he sassy swing of her hips. Or the happy-go-lucky wave-without-looking-at-you thing she always did just to get on his nerves. None of it. Sure, her fire hair bounced as she walked, and she still looked amazing for such a little kid, but it wasn't exactly _her_. Grimmjow felt a pang of some unfamiliar emotion. He didn't _want_ her to leave. And he knew that. Grimmjow Jaggerjack, murderer, fighter, alone - his only hope of being truly happy was walking out the door.

And she wasn't going to come back.

His resolve fell apart, it broke, and Grimmjow let out a roar and slammed his fist into the wall. The wall was smashed and pieces of debris littered the ground. But the girl kept walking, refusing to look back, so he wouldn't see the tears in her eyes that had already began to stream down her face.


	2. Chapter 1

Dying was a pretty difficult thing. This is what I decided. If you truly want to die…the usual outcome is that you fail miserably. Like usual, that was what happened to me. Yay for that. Not.

When I don't want to be injured, I end up tripping, running into something, things like that. Not good. At all.

So school had just gotten out and I was walking home from it. My bag was slung over my shoulder in the casual way. Things were going swell. And like always I hit something.

So this time I ran into a giant creepy looking beastie. It was big, black, and wore a freaky skeletal mask. I immediately thought that someone had gone all out on an early Halloween. But this wasn't exactly like that. There were quite a few differences.

For instance….

I was getting my ass whooped.

Getting the picture yet? I really hope so. 'Cause this was ridiculous. I was just walking home from school, minding my own business. That's it. And then suddenly the creature popped up out of some portal thing and attacked me! It leapt at me and practically body slammed me into the pavement. My entire body jerked, head slamming into the pavement, body crushed into the ground. It hurt so badly. I felt blood spurt out of my mouth and my eyes widened. The creature bore down upon me and I shrieked. My fist shot out, smacking the thing in the face.

It recoiled and I escaped, crawling and gasping, bruised and bleeding from several spots on my back. A cough made me slip and I hit my chin hard on the ground, wincing. Then I reached an arm out, reaching for something, anything.

There has to be _something_!

It was about now when I realized how stupid I must look, fighting a giant black and white bugger guy. Punching it. What a reaction. Where are the cameras? Someone's _gotta_ be taping this.

As the creature bent down to attack I rolled and it missed me by inches. With a grunt, I got to my knees in an effort to get away. This worked up until I slipped in a pool of my own blood. Landing hard on my stomach, I laid there, twitching. Opening my eyes, I felt a shadow cast over me, and went cold.

I let out a cry as the thing attacked. I didn't expect to live this time.

But, still. Like I said. Before, remember?

Dying is a pretty difficult thing.

I covered my head with my hands and ducked, quivering. Hot, rank breath made the hairs on the back on my head stick up and I felt instantly cold. Fear paralyzed me and I let out a squeak of pure terror, horrified at the thought of dying. _This is it!  
_

Then I caught the sharp, tangy scent of tulips, sake, and heard a curse.

_Eh?  
_

I'm about to die and the last things I remember are tulips, those silly tiny little pink flowers, sake, an alcoholic drink, and cuss words. Wow. I've really lost it this time.

I heard a clang. My eyes widened and my arms released their tight grip on my head. _What?_ I turned around, my auburn hair almost matching my blood.

A man in black was standing there. His hair was black and shaggy, reminding me a bit of a mop. He was slightly tanned with almond eyes that were brown like a birch tree. He looked interesting, especially with that white sash around his middle. He held a strange shaped sword, pushing the creature back with it, and it screeched and battered at him as he fended it off.

Suddenly I was in someone's arms, bridal style. I whimpered, embarrassed and startled all at once. "How?" Was all I could manage to get out, and in a small voice, at that. A woman with bright orange hair held me and she jumped away from the beast. I panted quietly, feeling very broken. "Where…?"

The woman gasped. "Holy…! You can _see_ us?" I blinked. She was very pretty…she must get the attention of men pretty easily. _Why am I thinking about that?_ I chastised myself, feeling stupid. She smelled like tulips and sake. This made me wonder about what the hell she did in her spare time.

"Yeah….I guess I can. So…what _is_ that thing?" My dark red hair danced around me as the wind ran through my hair. I decided it felt good. Then I felt dumb for thinking about things like that while under attack.

"That was a Hollow….Wait, you could see it?" Once again I was stared at. People stared a lot, really, so I was used to it. This girl was pretty slow. Didn't I _just_ say that I could see everyone?

"Yes, I could." I sighed, shoulders sagging. Suddenly, I felt a sudden rush of energy. My entire body was warm and it prickled. This was a very odd sensation. At the same time, the woman turned back to look around, eyes widening. I glanced back, feeling her fear. Why was she so scared? Well, I knew _why_, but why _now_ as opposed to back when I was being attacked?

"No!" She hollered and skidded to a halt. I tumbled from her arms, falling several feet. Luckily, I landed in a tree and it broke my fall. At the end of the less than graceful landing, I gingerly picked myself off the ground, shaking my limbs to check for broken bones, relieved when I had none.

It….Must be the man who had saved me back there. My adrenaline rush was still going. I was pleased to say that I sprinted back the way I'd come…er, flown.

This was about the time when the fact I'd been flown through the air and dropped into a tree hit me.

"Holy shit in a bucket!" I whispered, pumping my arms hard for speed. From afar it would appear that a little white and red blur was flying by. In what seemed like no time at all, I had the Hollow and the man in sight. The woman was catching up, I realized with a little relief, feeling air whoosh above my head as I ducked to evade her arms. Then I ran at the Hollow.

It dived at the bleeding man. I didn't really get what was happening. A bunch of scary stuff. I couldn't understand. But I knew one thing. I had to save that guy.

So as I jumped onto a tree stump (the one in that college cutie's yard - he is so _fiiiiine_), launched myself into the air, and did the one thing any normal, smart, original girl would do in this type of situation.

I sailed past his ear and _screamed_.

The shrill, piercing high-pitched battlecry was belted from me and the thing…the _Hollow_…cringed. Then I grabbed it by the mask and clung on for dear life, hanging on tight, while the woman saved her friend, barely suppressing a grin at my antics. This didn't please me. But I continued holding onto the Hollow, squeezing my eyes shut, as it roared and shook, trying to buck me off.

When I think back on what happened, I don't know if I regret it or not. All I know is that the Hollow was bored. It must have gotten tired of me. And it wanted out.

So how did I managed to get sucked up in a portal to another world?

I have no idea.

But in no time at all, both me _and_ the Hollow, had suddenly appeared in some dark shadowy forest place. I felt a shiver come over me as I looked around. That had happened in…what, seconds? How the hell had I gotten here?

Through the same portal it had opened to _come_ here, of course. And I wasn't enjoying this much. At all.

The Hollow roared in fury when it realized I hadn't jumped off. Flipping out, I let go, pushing off him…it. I fell back, doing a nose dive in the air, eyes wide and fearful.

I was hit by a tree. I think I won. But still, I passed out, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up in a desert.


	3. Chapter 2

Two men wearing odd white uniforms flash-stepped into a giant room. They knelt honorably in front of a large, long staircase. A man sat at the top on the throne, his chin on his hand, thoughtful.

"Lord Aizen-sama. We're here to report news on the Hollow we sent out to check the Soul Society's hold on Karakura Town. Two Soul Reapers were sent to deal with it - Matsumoto Rongeiku and a newbie called Erenti Simasin. Both escaped with minor injuries. The Hollow even managed to fail in killing a mere human. But word has it that it accidentally had her sent here, and now she's wandering around somewhere." The first one reported, grimacing at having to bear such bad news.

"She apparently was able to see both the Hollow sent and the Soul Reapers who tried to save her. So she has a pretty strong spiritual pressure. Maybe we could use her?" This was the second one, looking a little hopeful. Maybe if Aizen said yes, they could remain alive as long as she helped them?

But Aizen said nothing and merely dismissed them. As they left, grateful to still be alive, he walked away, thinking. Gin followed him, that eerie smile on his face that crept out most everyone. "Lord Aizen?" He said in his cheerful yet cold way. "What's going through your mind?"

"…I'm thinking about the girl. Who she is. If she'd be any help to us. I didn't foresee her in my plans." He finally said, thinking hard.

"Do you want to keep her? Perhaps as a pet. I bet she'd be quite the…animal." Gin licked his lips and Aizen smirked slightly.

"Interesting thought. Perhaps. We'll have to see…."

Gin nodded, still smiling. "Should I send out a search party?"

"Yes. Go get her from the Forest of Menos and leave her in the desert. We'll consider that her first test. If she can survive it…and actually wake up to take the next one."

Aizen looked pleased. Gin's smile widened. The two men nodded and Gin left the place to order some Arrancar to go search for the female.

I woke up, blinking rapidly. My throat hurt - I was parched, and confused. This was _not_ where I had passed out. A forest…not a desert? Huh? How does that happen? This is one weird place. And I couldn't say I was enjoying it much. But for the moment, I didn't really feel like moving. I was achy and a little annoyed. This was not my idea of a comfortable spot. Can I leave yet? Why is there even a 'yet' included? How long must I sit here? Why am I _here_? Is it ok to move? "Where am I?" I croaked, too sore to sit up. That's when I saw it.

Holy crap.

Someone wearing some weird white outfit was leaning over me. He…or she…had bright yellow-gold hair and it was a bit jaggedly cut. I felt a few others gathered around me, but this one was right in my face. "Yeep!" I cried out, sitting up straight, almost taking out the person in my face.

The woman (I discovered it was a woman, yes) sprang back, looking alarmed. I heard a few men snicker. "Jeez, Tia-san. Show some backbone!" A rude thing to say. Once more, my thought process ran along the lines of: I don't much enjoy this place.

Blinking, I examined her curiously. She had jaggedly cut bright golden-blond hair, like a dandelion, and dark skin. I thought she was very pretty. But she appeared to be pretty serious, too.

For a moment I just stared at her. Then I struggled backwards, a weird look on my face. "W-where am I?" I gasped, putting an arm protectively in front of my face, warily looking at everyone. In all, there were 10.

The largest one leaned down and inhaled. He seemed to be sniffing me. A little repulsed, I leaned away. He frowned and stood straight, looking like a bear. "I don't smell fear. Confusion, yes. But she's not pulling our strings."

"You would know, wouldn't you, Yammy?" The one with long black hair said, his skeletal eye patch catching the light. I blinked. Skeletal eye patch? Did I really just use those two words in the same sentence? Trying not to laugh, I looked at everyone.

"Um…I think names are in order, right?" I sighed and sat up straight, looking each person in the eye. "My name is Midori Ayako. And you guys are….?"

"…Not telling you our names." Another dark haired guy said, and then he grinned. He seemed pretty laidback for a skeleton guy…with uber muscles.

"Well, that's a bit rude. I don't even know how I got here and you won't even bother to tell me who you are." A feeling of frustration fell over me. I was hurt. I was confused. And lost. "Please."

Not a single one softened. _Who are these guys?_ I felt my body shiver and I closed my eyes shut tightly, and then opened them. "Or not. How impolite." With a weary sigh, I rubbed my eyes, and sat up straight. "So…where am I, again?"

"Las Noches." The one with the weird spiky blue hair said, his jaw-skeletal-patch-thingy catching the light, shadowing him. I felt a slight twinge of fear. Then I buried those feelings, those emotions. Even now I knew they wouldn't help me in this place.

"Las…Noches. That sounds Spanish." As I spoke I graciously allowed a trace of an accent to line my voice, thickening the words. "Uno momento, seniors and senorita, but I-ah, much be going-ah." I didn't take Spanish, I took German. And I was surprisingly doing pretty well in the class, too. So I wasn't fluent in espaniol.

The big one who had sniffed me (Yammy, I think his name was) stepped in front of me, his huge brick-like teeth cracking open in a smile. I froze, not moving. He just smirked at me, and I wondered if I could risk hitting him. "No, I'd probably break my wrist." I muttered, sitting myself back down and crossing my arms. Yammy blinked. I grinned at him and patted his arm in a kind, motherly manner. "Don't worry, big guy. I _was_ talking to you. So don't even mention it. I don't do well with boulders so if you leave me alone we'll get along just nicely." Then I gave him a big, fake grin. He glowered at me.

Welcome to the land of the lost.


End file.
